Pinned
by BadMoonlight
Summary: [Pete and Pete] Ellen decides to give the self-proclaimed Doctor of Death a taste of his own medicine. What she doesn't realize is that he couldn't have planned it better himself.
1. One: The Set Up

Pinned

by BadMoonlight

Rating: Right now, PG. Eventual R.

Pairing: Endless Mike/Ellen

Spoilers: Obviously, ones for 'Pinned!'. Slight ones for 'Tool and Die.' Also, maybe some 'Time Tunnel.'

She crossed her arms over her chest and waited for a response.

"You want to wrestle me?" Endless Mike cackled loudly and, in Ellen's opinion, rather annoyingly.

"I'm not bad," she said modestly, then quickly fought back the urge to slam her fist into his jaw to shut him up. He nodded, considering.

It was a late Tuesday afternoon outside the gym of Wellsville High. Most after-school club meetings had ended for the day, and the student parking lot was empty, save for half a dozen cars scattered in odd spots. Minutes before, Ellen Hickle had just finished up her meeting with the newspaper staff and was walking past the gym and adjoining locker rooms to the student parking lot, only to hear...

"Ow!"

Wait a minute... that sounded a little like Pete.

"OW!"

Yeah, that was definitely Pete Wrigley. Ellen had slowed down her pace and was about to crusade right to her friend's rescue before she realized that the sounds of pain were coming from the boys' locker room. She frowned. Theoretically, if he was in trouble it shouldn't really matter even if he was in a "forbidden territory" for people of her gender, but she still waited for a moment. He didn't really sound to be in any serious trouble, and she wanted to find out exactly what was going on before she just went barging into the boys' locker room without a justified cause. For all she knew, he could have stubbed his toe on something.

That could lead to an awkward moment.

"Y'know, Wrigley, I think I'm really going to enjoy our little rematch this semester." Ellen's eyes narrowed at the sound of a new voice. Endless Mike Hellstrom was at it _again? _She knew that both he and Pete had joined the wrestling team again this year. However, after all the trouble she and Teddy had gone through with Pete to help him defeat the boy last year, one would think he would have given up on beating her friend. But then again, Mike never did.

After a few more threats and rough slams against the plaster walls (which sounded very painful), Mike had slunk outside to the stairwell leading to the parking lot to find Ellen waiting for him. She was thoroughly disgusted with the bully's constant picking on her friend (though truth be told, not as much as she was with Pete for not standing up for himself.)

Which was why she had decided to finally challenge the self-proclaimed Doctor of Death to a little private wrestling match.

Which she was still waiting for a legitimate answer to.

"So you're saying--" Mike paced slowly down the sidewalk, staring at the concrete- "that if you win--"

"You'll leave Pete alone," Ellen supplied. She thought, then quickly added, "For good." No sense leaving any loopholes for him to find in the bargain. Mike stopped moving and raised his eyes to hers.

"Yeah, yeah, if you win, Carrothead escapes my wrath." He made an odd noise that sounded like a suppressed laugh. "Now. If I win..." Ellen rolled her eyes at his emphasis on the word 'I', his tone filled with such confidence. He thought he had a chance? Ha! It wasn't that she was cocky, but...

Okay, maybe she was a bit cocky when it came to her talent for wrestling. It wasn't her fault, really. She just had so much more experience than him. Not only that, it was in her blood.

She tried not to laugh herself as she finally answered, "If you win, you..." She sighed and trailed off, realizing he wouldn't exactly be asking for a quart of Neopolitan ice cream in return. Whatever it was, though, it couldn't be that bad, and besides... she was going to end up winning, anyway. Might as well call his bluff. "I don't know. Anything you want." He grinned.

"Anything, huh? Well, then." He brushed at some imaginary lint on his bomber jacket as the corners of his lips turned up in a feral smile. "I guess I'd better make it good... Right, Ellen?"

She shuddered. She hated whenever he said her name. He always managed to make it sound so... awful.

Ellen didn't always used to mind Mike. Her freshman year, when he had been Slurm's shop class assistant, he had seemed to take some sort of a liking to her and her eagerness to learn about the craft of woodworking. While he ignored the other students' feeble attempts to get help from him, he was by her side quite often, measuring and sanding and talking to her.

She didn't say much in return, of course. As opinionated and stubborn as she was, the sockethead who was two years her senior had still been intimidating at the time. For every bit he liked her, though, it seemed to be the opposite for Pete. Her redheaded friend was often on the receiving end of many harsh blows, both verbal and physical.

Then, it seemed, Mike's attitude toward Ellen began to change as well. As she became tougher and more cynical, the less he seemed to like her. Many of his odd schemes against Pete seemed to feature her in one way or another. There was the time he had tried to get Pete to join his gang and had nearly succeeded, encouraging him to commit such heinous acts as putting hot lather on Bill Korn's popped zit and twibbing Mark Twibb's ear, using the excuse of revenge against her for betraying him. Poor Mark still never recovered fully from that one.

Even worse was the time that Pete had worked up the nerve to ask her on a date and Mike had ruined the night beyond repair with his "helpful advice," turning her best friend into some sort of sleaze from a bad soap opera. She felt her fingers start to clench into fists, angry just from thinking about it.

Oh, well. No sense in getting worked up over the past now. If Pete couldn't handle the bully, she definitely could. Everything would be settled after she finally slammed his thick skull onto the ground repeatedly.

They parted ways as they reached the parking lot, he going to his beloved Mustang, she fishing in her bag for the keys to her dad's station wagon. Ellen, no longer nervous, felt satisfied and calmly pleased with her decision. This was something that she believed the older boy had a long time coming.

"Mike?" she called after him sweetly. He slowly turned around, looking irritated and confused. "Good luck at practice!"

You'll need it.

A/N: I may re-work this a bit later. I'm not sure if I justified Ellen wanting to fight Mike enough. My own take on it is that as the series progressed, she seemed to become more of a rule-breaker and more ruthless, using force when she got angry and cunning to get her way (as evidenced by 'Road Warrior' and 'Pinned!) I tried to keep both figures in character. Hopefully I succeeded with that and will also continue to in later chapters.

Comment, flame, suggest, anything is welcome, really. I'd just like some feedback.


	2. Two: Difficulty Eating Lunch

(A/N: Thanks everyone for all of your reviews! I honestly didn't think that anyone would read this. To those of you skeptics out there, give it a chance even if you dislike the pairing. It might surprise you. I have no concrete setting for what's going to happen, so contribute suggestions if you'd like. I plan on writing more _Pete _stories in the future, so I am, of course, open to any ideas.)

(A/N 2: This chapter doesn't have much action (or much Mike), but it sets up the plot a bit more, and offers more insight to the characters. Some of this may be confusing if you haven't seen the episode "Don't Tread On Pete," as it features a few characters (Magda and Dan) who appeared exclusively in it, which is a shame, because they were both really cool characters who had a lot of potential. Hence them re-appearing in this story. A few other one-timers, including Mike's gang from "Yellow Fever," may show up in future installments.)

(A/N 3: Yeah, I don't know what's up with the choking running gag, either. Bear with me.)

* * *

_Pinned_

by BadMoonlight

* * *

Chapter Two

"Are you _insane?_"

Ellen merely raised an eyebrow as Pete paced back and forth in front of her. Their textbooks lay forgotten and scattered on his bedroom floor. Bits of aluminum foil and baking soda, the remnants of his younger brother's latest project, lay alongside the books, the aluminum shining under his desklamp. He tripped over an empty box of baking soda, stumbled to his feet, and turned to glare at her once more.

"What were you _thinking, _Ellen?"

She crossed her legs as she sighed and looked up at him. "What's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal? _What's _the big _deal?" _This was starting to sound more than a little familiar. _"I'll _tell you what the big deal is! Endless Mike is the worst, most... most evil..." He was beginning to lose credibility here. He settled for stating the obvious. "He's the biggest bully in town!"

Ellen's eyes flashed as she stared back defiantly at her best friend. "I challenged him to wrestling, Pete, not the proper etiquette of terrorizing Wellsville."

"Oh, that's funny," Pete responded, followed by a nervous laugh that indicated he didn't find it funny at all. "I hope you still have that sense of humor when he starts stalking you."

"Stalking?"

"Well, if he leaves me alone, who do you think he's going to start bothering next? That's the next logical step, you know." He stopped pacing to stare directly at her with a frenzied gleam. "Only you obviously weren't using any logic, were you?"

"Relax!" Ellen exclaimed. "You're acting more tense than my dad."

"Does your _dad_ know?" Pete demanded. "Does your dad know that you just sacrificed yourself to a potential homicidal maniac?"

"Give it a rest, Pete." Sighing, Ellen picked up her bag and started shuffling her schoolbooks into it. "I think we've studied enough molecular biology for tonight."

It had been a mistake telling Pete, she knew. They had been preparing for Mrs. Sanborn's weekly quiz when she casually mentioned that there was a new episode of _Fast Track _on tonight, and, _oh_, by the way, I decided to wrestle your arch-nemesis in a match to the death, what's the answer to number thirteen?

It had seemed like a good idea at the time.

------------------

Ellen and Magda Miller were unpacking their bagged lunches as they waited for their less health-conscious friends to arrive at their usual table. Ellen had explained her "bargain" with Endless Mike to the other girl on their way to the cafeteria. Her friend had listened patiently as well as amusedly, the hilarity of the situation heightened by the way that Pete reacted.

"He's jealous."

Ellen started choking on the spoonful of raspberry yogurt she had just started to swallow. It took a few good poundings on her back before she could finish swallowing the yogurt as well as breathe properly again. "Who? Mike?"

Magda rolled her eyes as she reached up to tie her hair into a short ponytail. "_Pete_."

"Oh." Ellen scrunched up her nose. "Why?"

"Because he's a guy, and if he doesn't have all of your attention focused on him it ruins his entire mood. Something about males wanting to be the dominant gender. Anyway, they have this constant, obsessive need to be in the spotlight. It drives them nuts if they're not."

Ellen smiled weakly. "Magda, I don't really think--"

"Hey, Magda!" The girls turned their attention to Bill Korn as he dramatically tilted a tray loaded with green Jell-O and prepared to fire at the next unsuspecting passerby. "Watch this!"

Magda focused her gaze back on Ellen. "You were saying?"

Ellen bit her lip. "That's different. You and Bill are--"

"Not at all different from you and Pete," Magda interrupted. She paused thoughtfully as she started to raise her crust-less sandwich to her mouth. "Actually, maybe a _little _different. You two are so perfect together that it's kind of sickening."

"We're not like that," Ellen protested. At Magda's disbelieving look, she pressed on. "Look, I know that we're always hanging around and doing things together, but that's because we're best friends. We tried the whole... relationship thing before, it didn't pan out. Besides, I have a little more important things to worry about than Pete right now."

"Wasn't the whole point of wrestling this kid so he would leave Pete alone?"

"Well... yeah. But now it's personal."

Magda was the champion of cynical raised eyebrows. "Personal, how?"

"I found these in my locker this morning." Ellen reached into her bag and produced two burgundy and white cheerleader pom-poms.

"Pom-poms?" Magda frowned. "I'm failing to see the significance of those."

"RememberLast year, when I joined the cheerleading squad in order to show up Gladner?"

"Oh, right." Magda started snickering. "Didn't you burn all of your equipment?"

"Yeah, I did."

"And wasn't there some sort of ritualistic chant involved?"

"Sort of. Anyway, the point is that Mike put them in my locker to mock me!"

Magda set down her sandwich and opened a zip-lock bag of dried fruit. "I think you're giving him way too much credit, El."

"Not really. Mike really is a pretty bright guy. He just doesn't apply himself to his classes."

"Is there some sort of guidance counselor gene running in your family?"

"I'm serious," Ellen insisted. "He works on a mostly psychological level. While that is difficult to beat, it's easier than if he used force and attempted to pound me into the ground. I'm in AP Psychology; I may have a chance."

"Ellen, I know you never thought you'd hear me say this - but there is more to life than grades, classes, and schoolwork!"

"I just hope that he doesn't try to start bothering me in class," she sighed, twisting open a bottle of grape juice.

"I didn't know that he was in any of your classes. Aren't they mostly AP?"

"No, I meant next semester," Ellen clarified. "He'll be in my shop class... Advanced Metalwork, 102."

Magda reacted with a wince that displayed both admiration and worry. "You haven't taken shop since it was required sophomore year. Isn't that class for those guys who are _really--_" she paused, searching for an inoffensive word to use-- "you know..."

Ellen shrugged. "Yeah, a lot of them will be in my class. But I had an extra elective, and I really enjoy shop. So I just talked to Mr. Slurm, and he got me in."

Teddy Foresman let out a low whistle as he appeared, placed his tray down and sat next to Ellen. "Shop class? Are you sure Mike isn't going to give you a hard time?"

"Contrary to what most people think, I can handle things myself!" Ellen cried in exasperation. "I'm not exactly a delicate little snowflake." Her pouty glare made her look more like a young child sent to time-out, however, than a determined fighter.

"What's going on?" Bill asked, setting down his tray next to Magda's and pulling out a chair. An irritated freshman covered in green Jell-O stalked past him and out into the hallway.

"Ellen's going to wrestle Endless Mike," Teddy answered for the others, shining an apple on the leg of his jeans. He had heard the whole story last night. Pete had called him up to vent, Ellen had called immediately after to tell him to disregard anything Pete said, and Pete had called up again to find out if Ellen had called about him.

"Whoa, Ellen's going to wrestle? That's hot," said Bill.

Magda smacked him hard on the arm.

"I mean, that's very, very... wrong. Girls shouldn't wrestle. Women? Playing sports? That's just crazy!"

Magda smacked him again.

"For God's sake, Magda, what do you want me to say!" Bill exclaimed in annoyance, rubbing his arm. His girlfriend gave him a scathing look in response.

"The cafeteria gods were on the right track the day that they invented hot pockets!" Dan Pinciotti declared, letting his tray filled with at least seven or eight hot pockets fall to the table with a clunk. Appearing behind Dan and clutching his own tray, Pete pointedly sat down next to Bill instead of Ellen.

Lunch went by pretty much the same as usual: Teddy studiously applied his nose clip as well as a pair of ear plugs (prompting one to speak a little louder than normal if they wanted him to hear them), Dan acquired at least one item of food from each person's tray, Bill made constant obnoxious comments, and Magda reprimanded him for each one. Pete and Ellen remained silent, however, only speaking whenever spoken to and responding with grunts and nods respectively.

"What's the matter with you guys?" Dan finally asked.

"Lovers' spat," Bill said in a loud stage whisper.

"Shut up," Pete and Ellen told him simultaneously, then looked at each other, glared, and looked away.

Two tables over, a pair of green eyes watched them with a dark laugh, before abruptly choking ona balogna sandwich that was in the process of being swallowed. He had to be thumped on the back a few times before he swallowed, gathered his composure, and immediately continued laughing again.


End file.
